Alright, now that we've learned how to play, it's time to discuss World Building. This is the last section of the book before we get the rest of the sample characters and the end of the book. This is less than half the page, but it's important stuff.
So, the first decision the GM has to make is where the campaign is set. Is it a major city, like New York, Los Angeles, or Toronto? Is it across the ocean in Tokyo or London? Is it even on Earth, or is it out in space? The possibilities are pretty much endless, so it's important to think about this before you do anything else. This includes not only where, but when the game is set. Maybe you're playing a steampunk superheroes game set in Victorian England (or the Gilded Age prior to the First World War). Maybe it's a Legion of Super-Heroes game set in the far future. Or you're going back to where superheroes began, to the Golden Age and World War II. Again, the possibilities are endless. Just remember that the farther from the current time you go, the less players will know about the setting, and the more work you will have to do to set up the campaign.
For this reason, contemporary campaigns are the easiest to set up and play in. Other than the existence of supers, you can basically assume that the world is the same as ours, and current events can play into the scenarios you create. You can also link character backgrounds to recent events, such as 9/11 or the financial crash of 2008.
Next up is 'how big will you go?' A Fantastic Four-style game can go all over the world, or even outside of it; in their first few years, the FF went to the moon and much further into space, as well as all over the world. Meanwhile, Spider-Man spent most of his time in New York, rarely expanding his adventures beyond the city that never sleeps. Smaller is easier, and requires less additional prep on the part of the GM. On the other hand, world-spanning superheroes like the Avengers and the Justice League might not do too well when confined to a single city, even one as big as New York.
Then you get technology questions. How close is tech to what we have now? In a society that's had supers for a few decades, it's likely that there will be higher levels of technology available simply because of all the Tony Starks and Lex Luthors out there that are always coming up with new gadgets and inventions, many of which would certainly hit the consumer market at some point. If your supers go all the way back to the Golden Age, it's even more likely that ninety years later, tech levels would be higher than anything we have today.
But it's not just modern tech to consider; there might be ancient tech buried in lost cities, or even low-tech stuff like swords and armor. And magic is a possible substitute for technology in some cases, depending on your preferences (and possibly the kinds of heroes your players come up with). Regardless, the GM will, of course, have the final say, not only in available technologies, but also character choices; you don't have to approve every character concept the players hand you, especially if they don't fit. For example, you're running a super-science style game and one of the players wants to play a supernatural ghost that possesses people. If it doesn't fit the game you want to run, don't allow it.
Alright, that's a short entry for today, but we'll get to more world-building next time. See you then.
And I just realized that this was my 600th post on this blog! Milestone reached! Next target...700.
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